Method and apparatus for controlling image-display devices collectively

ABSTRACT

An image-transmitting device connected to image-display devices through a bus cable is provided. The image-transmitting device includes a memory unit storing a set of screen data whose correspondence to each of the image-display devices and a displaying order of the screen data to be displayed on the image-display devices are predetermined; a transmission-data-generating unit selecting specific screen data from among the set of the screen data by following the correspondence and the displaying order, and generating transmission data that each of the image-display devices is to display based on the selected specific screen data; a bus interface connected to the image-display devices through the bus cable; and a transmission unit transmitting the transmission data from the bus interface through the bus cable to each of the image-display devices. The image-transmitting device transmits as the screen data, a combination of data specifying an updating area of the screen data displayed on an image-display device and data used for updating part of the screen data displayed in the updating area, to the image-display device through the bus cable, so that the image-display devices can simultaneously update the screen data displayed thereon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to an image-display system. Thepresent invention particularly relates to an image-display system thatincludes image-display devices for displaying a plurality of imagessimultaneously, and to a user interface provided in an image-displaysystem for allocating a document that includes a plurality of pages toimage-display devices included in the image-display system.

2. Description of the Related Art

An image is enlarged by being displayed on a plurality of projectors ina presentation. In addition, a part of the image displayed on each ofthe projectors can have a high resolution. Further, by setting aplurality of image-display devices on a table, and then displayingimages on the image-display devices, more information can be displayedat once on the image-display devices than on a single image-displaydevice. Operation systems such as Windows 98 produced by Microsoft andMac OS produced by Apple provide a function to use a plurality ofimage-display devices for displaying images. However, a plurality ofvideo cards 12 must be added to a computer 10, the video cards 12corresponding to respective image-display devices 14 that are connectedto the computer 10 as shown in FIG. 1. Alternatively, special hardwaresimilar to a video card that can connect a plurality of the imagedisplay devices 14 must be prepared in addition to the computer 10 andthe image-display devices 14.

Additionally, there is software named VNC that displays an imagedisplayed on a monitor of a first computer onto a monitor of a secondcomputer through a network. This VNC is freeware created by TristanRichard, Quentin Stafford-Fraser, Kenneth R. Wood, and Andy Hooper(Tristan Richard, Quentin Stafford-Fraser, Kenneth R. Wood, Andy Hooper,“Virtual Network Computing”, IEEE Internet Computing, Volume 2, Number1, January/February 1998). The VNC enables fast update of an imagedisplayed on the monitor of the second computer by transmitting rasterdata of an updated area on the monitor of the first computer and acommand to replace a color of an evenly colored area on the monitor ofthe first computer, to the second computer.

As software installed in an image-display system that includes thecomputer 10 (a control device) and a plurality of the image-displaydevices 14, there exists a web browser such as the Internet Explorerproduced by Microsoft. The image-display system including the webbrowser is called a hypertext-document display system, and displays ahypertext document wherein texts, still pictures, movies and soundsincluded in the document are linked to other related data calledobjects. The web browser obtains data in an HTML (HyperText MarkupLanguage) format through a network by use of a HTTP protocol, or readsthe data from a local disk. Subsequently, the web browser analyzes theobtained data, generates image data indicating contents of the obtaineddata, and displays the image data on a monitor. The web browser obtainsnew data in the HTML format from a linked address when a user clicks amouse in a specific area that has been initially linked to otherdocuments on a monitor, and then displays the new data as an image onthe monitor. Additionally, an area called a tool bar provided on anHTML-data display screen displays two buttons, “forward” and “back”. Theweb browser can display the previous pages that have been displayed onthe monitor by a user pressing the buttons “forward” and “back”.

Another image-display system is a system that uses a plurality ofimage-display devices. One of methods to use the image-display devicesis to divide a large image into images, and then to display the imageson the image-display devices. Another method, disclosed in JapaneseLaid-Open Patent Application No. 9-81475, is to divide a documentlogically and then to display logically divided pages of the document.In this method, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) board is used as animage-display device. However, a CRT display and a projector may besubstituted for the LCD board. Generally, a document includes a set ofpages. Assuming each of the pages included in the document is displayedon one of the image-display devices, a user can switch from one page toanother page intuitively by observing the pages displayed on theimage-display devices simultaneously, or by changing a location of eachof the image-display devices physically. A document created by use of aword processor is considered a series of pages in one dimension. Theinvention disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 9-81475displays a plurality of the pages included in the documentsimultaneously on the image-display devices by transmitting files thatinclude a plurality of the pages to a group of the image-displaydevices.

However, in hypertexts such as the HTML, each page includes linksconnected to other pages in addition to a link to the previous page anda link to the next page. Thus, there exist a plurality of pagesconnected to each page. In a case in which hypertexts that includecomplicated links to a plurality of pages are to be displayed on aplurality of image-display devices, a control device included in animage-display system cannot determine which page a user wants to displayon each of the plurality of image-display devices only by transmittingthe plurality of pages to the plurality of image-display devices. Insuch an environment, it is necessary to provide a user interface thatrelates a specific page in a document to a specific image-display devicein an image-display system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to providea method and an apparatus for controlling image-display devicescollectively through a user interface to display an image on each of theimage-display devices in an image-display system that can be createdeasily by use of a general personal computer. Another object of thepresent invention is to provide an image-display system including acontrol device and image-display devices, wherein the image-displaysystem quickly updates images displayed on the image-display deviceseven if an interface that connects the control device and theimage-display devices is slow.

The above-described objects of the present invention are achieved by animage-transmitting device connected to image-display devices through abus cable, the image-transmitting device including a memory unit storinga set of screen data whose correspondence to each of the image-displaydevices and a displaying order of the screen data to be displayed on theimage-display devices are predetermined; a transmission-data-generatingunit selecting specific screen data from among the set of the screendata by following the correspondence and the displaying order, andgenerating transmission data that each of the image-display devices isto display based on the selected specific screen data; a bus interfaceconnected to the image-display devices through the bus cable; and atransmission unit transmitting the transmission data from the businterface through the bus cable to each of the image-display devices.

The image-transmitting device transmits as screen data, a combination ofdata specifying an updating area of the screen data displayed on animage-display device and data used for updating part of the screen datadisplayed in the updating area, to the image-display device through thebus cable so that the image-display devices can simultaneously updatethe screen data displayed thereon.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description when readin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional technology;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an image-display system according to afirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a computer used as a control deviceprovided in the image-display system according to a second embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a two-dimensional arrangementincluding information about correspondence of each image-display deviceto image data and a displaying order of the image data on a specificimage-display device;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a window used for setting thecorrespondence of each image-display device to the image data and thedisplaying order of the image data on the specific image-display device;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart describing operations performed by the controldevice provided in the image-display system;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an initial condition of a window usedfor selecting screen data;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the window used for selecting thescreen data after switching screen data displayed on the image-displaydevices once;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a structure of area-updating data;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the screen data;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a depiction area of five characters in thescreen data shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a structure of the image-displaydevice according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a hardware environment of theimage-display system according to a fourth embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a user interface according to a sixthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a console screen provided in the userinterface of the image-display system according to a seventh embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a dialog asking a user to select one of acontinuation and a cancellation of relations among a plurality of theimage-display devices in the user interface of the image-display systemaccording to an eighth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a pop-up menu used for specifying a desiredimage-display device to display a page linked to the current pagethereon in the user interface of the image-display system according to aninth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a scroll button provided on theconsole screen displayed on a console of the image-display systemaccording to a tenth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing identification information of theimage-display device on the console screen displayed on the console ofthe image-display system according to an eleventh embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing an application using theimage-display system according to a twelfth embodiment of the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A description will now be given of preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an image-display system according to afirst embodiment of the present invention. The image-display systemincludes a control device 100 and a plurality of image-display devices102. The control device 100 includes a USB (Universal Serial Bus)interface (I/F) unit 110, a USB terminal 112, a memory unit 116, atransmission-data-generating unit 118, a transmission unit 120, asetting unit 122 and an instruction-input unit 124. The control device100 and the plurality of the image-display devices 102 are connectedthrough a bus interface that can connect a plurality of devices to asingle bus. For instance, a USB is used as the bus interface in theimage-display system according to the first embodiment. Therefore, thecontrol device 100 includes the USB-interface unit 110 therein as shownin FIG. 2. Additionally, each of the image-display devices 102 includesa USB interface. Considering a function of a USB interface, a HUB 114being a low-priced line collecting device can be connected to the USBterminal 112 of the control device 100 through a USB cable if thecontrol device 100 is provided with one or more than one USB terminal112. Additionally, each of the plurality of the image-display devices102 can be connected to the HUB 114 through a USB cable. Accordingly,the control device 100 and the plurality of the image-display devices102 can be connected to each other through the USB cable and the HUB114. It should be noted that the USB interface may be substituted withanother bus interface. Additionally, the number of the image-displaydevices 102 may be altered to any number. However, it is assumed thatthree image-display devices 102-1, 102-2 and 102-3 are connected to thecontrol device 100 in the first embodiment.

The memory unit 116 provided in the control device 100 stores a group ofscreen data. An image-display device 102 corresponding to each of theabove-described screen data and an order of the above-described screendata to be displayed are predetermined. The transmission-data-generatingunit 118 selects screen data from the group of the screen data stored inthe memory unit 116 by following the predetermined order of the screendata to be displayed and correspondence of the image-display devices 102to the screen data, and generates transmission data that is used fordisplaying an image on a monitor provided in each of the image-displaydevices 102 based on the selected screen data. The transmission unit 120transmits the transmission data generated by thetransmission-data-generating unit 118 to an image-display device 102corresponding to the transmission data. The setting unit 122 setscorrespondence of the image-display devices 102 to the screen data, andan order of the screen data to be displayed. Additionally, theinstruction-input unit 124 is provided in the control unit 100 for auser to input instructions to the setting unit 122 and thetransmission-data-generating unit 118 by use of a GUI (Graphical UserInterface).

The above-described control device 100 may be adapted, without addingspecial hardware, to a computer such as a general personal computer thatincludes at least one USB terminal, and an information-processing devicecontrolled by a program, for instance. Such a computer used as thecontrol device 100 is shown in FIG. 3 according to a second embodimentof the present invention. The computer shown in FIG. 3 includes a CPU200, a main memory 202, a video memory 204, a display controller 206, aCRT display 208, a USB-interface circuit 210, a user-input device 212, arecord medium 214, a media drive 216, a hard-disk device 218, acommunication device 220 and a bus 222. The main memory 202 stores aprogram 230, and includes frame buffers 231, 232 and 233. TheUSB-interface circuit is connected to a USB terminal 224. The user-inputdevice 212 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and other pointing devices. Therecord medium 214 includes a floppy disk, an optical disk and amagneto-optical disk, for example. The it communication device 220includes a modem. The bus 222 connects each of the above-described unitsprovided in the computer.

Additionally, the program 230 stored in the main memory 202 iscontrolled by the CPU 200 to execute each function of the control device100 in the computer shown in FIG. 3. For instance, the program 230 isread from the record medium 214 that contains the program 230, is storedin the main memory 202, and is executed by the CPU 200. The program 230that has been read from the record medium 214 may be stored temporarilyin the hard-disk device 218. In this case, the program 230 is read fromthe hard-disk device 218, is stored in the main memory 202, and isexecuted by the CPU 200 if the execution of the program 230 isnecessary. Additionally, the program 230 may be stored on asemiconductor ROM that is installed in the computer. It should be notedthat various types of record mediums that store the program 230 areincluded in the present invention. Additionally, the program 230 may beread from other computers through a communication line by use of thecommunication device 220 of the computer. Programs not shown in FIG. 3such as an operation system that supplies GUI environments are loadedfrom the hard-disk device 218 to the main memory 202.

The main memory 202 and any recording area of the hard-disk device 218are used as the memory unit 116 of the control device 100 in thecomputer shown in FIG. 3. The user-input device 212 of the computer suchas a mouse is used as the instruction-input unit 124 of the controldevice 100 in a GUI environment. Additionally, the USB-interface circuit210 and the USB terminal 224 correspond respectively to theUSB-interface unit 110 and the USB terminal 112 shown in FIG. 2.

A description will now be given of an operation of the image-displaysystem with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Screen data is initially createdby use of an editor or an HTML creating tool that is read from thehard-disk device 218 and stored in the main memory 202 for laterdisplaying the screen data on a monitor of each image-display device102. The created screen data is then stored as a file in the hard-diskdevice 218. The size of this screen data is equal to a monitor size ofeach image-display device 102. However, the screen data does not take aformat of raster data but HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) data sincethe HTML data is structural data that indicates figures such as textsand lines so that an area where the figures are depicted can be easilyknown for generating later-described transmission data more easily thanwith the raster data.

The setting unit 122 decides a displaying order of the screen data andcorrespondence of the screen data to the image-display devices 102 byfollowing instructions inputted to the instruction-input unit 124 by auser through a GUI. To be concrete, a two-dimensional arrangement 240 ofthe screen data is created in the memory unit 116 of the control device100 in the image-display system as shown in FIG. 4. Each element in thetwo-dimensional arrangement 240 is set to a file name of each screendata. Each column corresponds to an image-display device 102.Additionally, each row corresponds to an order of the screen data to bedisplayed by a specific image-display device 102. For instance, anelement located in the “i”th row and the “j”th column in thetwo-dimensional arrangement 240 is a file name of the screen data thatis displayed by the “j”th image-display device 102 in the “i”th turn ofthe displaying order. As described above, the setting unit 122 assigns afile name of each screen data to each element in the two-dimensionalarrangement 240.

Settings of a displaying order of the screen data and correspondence ofthe screen data to the image-display devices 102 are executed in thecomputer shown in FIG. 3 as described below. The CRT display 208 of thecomputer shown in FIG. 3 displays a window 300 shown in FIG. 5, forinstance. Additionally, the CRT display 208 displays another window 320that is not shown in the figures and includes a list of file names ofscreen data or reduced images of the screen data. The window 300includes setting frames 301 through 309 and a scroll bar. A file name ofscreen data A-1 is set as an element located in the first row and thefirst column of the two-dimensional arrangement 240 stored in the mainmemory 202 by selecting the screen data A-1 from the window 320 to beinitially displayed by the first image-display device 102-1, and then bydragging the screen data A-1 to the setting frame 301 by a mouse, forexample. A reduced image of the screen data A-1 is preferably displayedin the setting frame 301 when the screen data A-1 is dragged to thesetting frame 301. Similarly, a file name of screen data A-2 is set asan element located in the first row and the second column of thetwo-dimensional arrangement 240 by selecting the screen data A-2 fromthe window 320 to be initially displayed by the second image-displaydevice 102-2, and then by dragging the screen data A-2 to the settingframe 302. A file name of screen data A-3 is set as an element locatedin the first row and the third column of the two-dimensional arrangement240 by selecting the screen data A-3 from the window 320 to be initiallydisplayed by the third image-display device 102-3, and then by draggingthe screen data A-3 to the setting frame 303. Each file name of screendata B-1, B-2 and B-3 is set as an element located in the second row andrespectively in the first, second and third columns of thetwo-dimensional arrangement 240 by respectively dragging the screen dataB-1, B-2 and B-3 from the window 320 to the setting frames 304, 305 and306. Each file name of screen data C-1, C-2 and C-3 is set as an elementlocated in the third row and respectively in the first, second and thirdcolumns of the two-dimensional arrangement 240 by respectively draggingthe screen data C-1, C-2 and C-3 from the window 320 to the settingframes 307, 308 and 309.

In a case that there is additional screen data to be displayed by theimage-display devices 102, a file name of the additional screen data maybe dragged to a setting frame after scrolling the scroll bar 310 locatedat the right edge of the window 300 so that the following setting framesare shown in the window 300. The above-described settings of adisplaying order of the screen data and correspondence of the screendata to the image-display devices 102 by use of the GUI can beunderstood and executed more easily than the settings in without usingthe GUI. Thus, mistakes during the settings using the GUI occur lessfrequently than during the settings without using the GUI. Subsequently,the two-dimensional arrangement 240 that has been created as describedabove is stored as a file in the hard-disk device 218.

A description will now be given of an operation to display images of thescreen data jointly on monitors of the image-display devices 102-1,102-2 and 102-3. FIG. 6 is a flowchart describing the steps ofdisplaying images jointly on monitors of the three image-display devices102 performed by a program provided in the control device 100 or thecomputer shown in FIG. 3. In the image-display system shown in FIG. 2,necessary data such as the two-dimensional arrangement 240 and thescreen data is stored in the memory unit 116 at a step S1. For instance,in the computer shown in FIG. 3, the entire two-dimensional arrangement240 is stored in the main memory 202. The entire screen data or a partof the screen data that is to be displayed early in the displaying orderis stored in the main memory 202. In the case that the part of thescreen data is stored in the main memory 202, the remaining screen datais read from the hard-disk device 118, and is stored in the main memory202 when the remaining screen data is necessary.

When the screen data is stored in the main memory 202, a window 400shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the CRT display 208. An upper area ofthe window 400 includes display frames 401, 402 and 403. A lower area ofthe window 400 includes display frames 404 through 409. Additionally,the window 400 includes a scroll bar 410 at the right edge thereof. Eachof the display frames 401, 402 and 403 respectively displays a reducedimage of the screen data A-1, A-2 and A-3, each of the screen data A-1,A-2 and A-3 including a file name and respectively being the element ofthe first, second, and third columns in the first row of thetwo-dimensional arrangement 240. The display frames 404 through 409display reduced images of the screen data B-1, B-2, B-3, C-1, C-2 andC-3 in order. Each of the screen data B-1, B-2 and B-3 is respectivelythe element of the first, second and third columns in the second row ofthe two-dimensional arrangement 240. Each of the screen data C-1, C-2and C-3 is respectively the element of the first, second and thirdcolumns in the third row of the two-dimensional arrangement 240. Thefollowing display frames can be displayed in the lower area of thewindow 400 by scrolling the lower area of the window 400 by use of thescroll bar 410, wherein the following display frames also displayreduced images of the screen data that includes a filename and areelements provided in the fourth row or in a row after the fourth row ofthe two-dimensional arrangement 240.

At a step S2, the transmission-data-generating unit 118 of the controldevice 100 selects the screen data A-1, A-2 and A-3, which reducedimages are displayed respectively in the display frames 401, 402 and403. In other words, the transmission-data-generating unit 118 selectsthe screen data that includes a file number and is set to the first rowof the two-dimensional arrangement 240, that is, the first three-screendata in the displaying order, each of the first three-screen data havingits corresponding image-display device 102 being set. The selectedscreen data is then displayed on monitors of the image-display devices102. A detailed description of a method to display the screen data onthe monitors of the image-display devices 102 will be given later.

When a user inputs an instruction by use of the instruction-input unit124 to switch the screen data A-1, A-2 and A-3 currently being displayedon the monitors of the image-display devices 1021, 102-2 and 102-3 toanother row of screen data to be displayed next in the displaying orderon a monitor of each of the image-display devices 102, thetransmission-data-generating unit 118 selects the elements in the secondrow of the two-dimensional arrangement 240, that is, the screen dataB-1, B-2 and B-3, at the step S2. Subsequently, each of the screen dataB-1, B-2 and B-3 is displayed on a monitor of the correspondingimage-display devices 102. In such a case, the screen data displayed onthe monitors of the image-display devices 102-1, 102-2 and 102-3 isswitched simultaneously. The above-described operation to switch thescreen data can be executed in the computer shown in FIG. 3, forinstance, by pressing a space key of a keyboard, that is, the user-inputdevice 212. When a user has pressed the space key down, screen data ineach row shifts up by one, as shown in FIG. 8. Reduced images of thescreen data A-1 A-2 and A-3 are eliminated from the display frames 401,402 and 403. Instead, reduced images of the screen data B-1, B-2 and B-3that are currently being displayed on the monitors of the image-displaydevices 102-1, 102-2 and 102-3 are displayed in the display frames 401,402 and 403.

Each screen data corresponding to the image-display devices 102-1, 102-2and 102-3 is selected following the displaying order, and the selectedscreen data is displayed on the monitor of the correspondingimage-display device 102 simultaneously. In addition to theabove-described method to switch displayed images on the monitors of thethree image-display devices 102-1, 102-2 and 102-3, there is a method todisplay desired screen data on a monitor of any image-display device102. The method takes steps of selecting desired screen data withoutconsidering correspondence of screen data to the image-display devicesand a displaying order of the screen data by inputting an instruction tothe transmission-data-generating unit 118 from the instruction-inputunit 124, and displaying the desired screen data on the monitor of adesired image-display device 102. In the computer shown in FIG. 3, theabove-described method can be executed by dragging a reduced image ofscreen data displayed in any display frame provided in the lower area ofthe window 400 to any display frame provided in the upper area of thewindow 400. For example, if a reduced image of screen data D-3 displayedin the display frame 409 is dragged to the display frame 403, the screendata D-3 is selected, and is displayed on the monitor of theimage-display device 102-3. Meanwhile, images displayed on the monitorsof the image-display devices 102-1 and 102-2 remain displayed. Theabove-described method switches images displayed on the image-displaydevices 102-1, 102-2 and 102-3 by use of the GUI, so that desired screendata and a desired display frame whereto the desired screen data isdragged can be easily specified. Thus, errors during specification ofthe screen data and the display frame hardly occur.

At a step S3 shown in FIG. 6, a position and a size of a depiction area(rectangular area) for each figure element including texts and lines ofscreen data (HTML data) selected at the step S2, are calculated.Subsequently, at a step S4, each figure element is depicted. Forinstance, in the computer shown in FIG. 3, the frame buffers 231, 232and 233 are provided in the main memory 202 for each of theimage-display devices 102-1, 102-2 and 102-3, and are used for depictingeach figure element. At a step S5, transmission data is created by useof depicted data and the calculated position and size of the depictionarea. The steps S2 through S5 are repeated until a user inputs aninstruction to end the steps to the instruction-input unit 124. When theinstruction to end the steps is inputted to the instruction-input unit124 at a step S6, a sequence of the steps S2 through S6 is terminated.

Transmission data created by the transmission-data-generating unit 118is area-updating data that takes a structure as shown in FIG. 9, andincludes data 501 and 502 that specify a rectangular area which contentsshould be updated, and data 503, 504 and 505 that specify contents forupdating existing contents. The data 501 indicates upper leftcoordinates (X, Y) of the rectangular area which contents should beupdated. The data 502 indicates the width and the height of therectangular area. Additionally, the data 503, 504 and 505 respectivelyindicates a data type, a data length and contents of data having avariable data length used for updating the existing contents of therectangular area. The data type 503 specifies whether the data type ofthe contents is raster data or solid data. If the data type is specifiedas a raster-data type, the contents 505 are raster data with each pixelbeing 3 bytes long. Accordingly, the data length 504 indicates the totalnumber of bytes in the raster data, the total number of bytes beingcalculated by multiplying the width of the rectangular area, the heightof the rectangular area and 3 bytes. If the data type is specified as asolid-data type, the contents 505 are data that is 3 bytes longspecifying a color to paint the entire rectangular area. In such case,the data length 504 is set to 3 bytes. For example, screen data whichcontents are shown in FIG. 10 includes solid data a for clearing theentire screen and raster data for updating depiction areas that areshown in FIG. 11 as rectangles containing five characters A, B, C, D andE. Accordingly, the transmission-data-generating unit 118 creates thesolid data and the raster data as transmission data to transmit each ofthe transmission data in order.

In the above-described image-display system, the control device 100 andthe image-display devices 102 are connected by the USB interface 110,that is, a bus interface. Transmission data transmitted from thetransmission unit 120 of the control device 100 to all of theimage-display devices 102-1, 102-2 and 102-3 flows through a single buscable. As the number of the image-display devices 102 increases,quantity of data transmitted through the bus increases, and thus thetime taken for updating screen data displayed on a monitor of animage-display device 102 becomes longer. For example, it takes about 1.6seconds to transmit raster data which size is equal to a screen size1024×768 pixels multiplied by a pixel size of 24 bits through the USBbus, which maximum data transmission speed is 12 Mbps. If the number ofthe image-display devices 102 is three, transmission time to transmitdata to three of the image-display devices 102 is about 4.8 seconds, andthus quick update of the screen data cannot be executed. However, theimage-display system according to the present invention transmits screendata expressed by using both a raster-data format (raster-data type) anda solid-data format (solid-data type) to the image-display devices 102instead of transmitting the screen data expressed by using only theraster-data format. A size of the screen data that is expressed by usingboth the raster-data format and the solid-data format is smaller than asize of the screen data expressed by using only the raster-data format.Accordingly, a quantity of data transmitted by the control device 100through the USB bus to the image-display devices 102 is reduced in theimage-display system according to the present invention. Thus, screendata displayed on each of the image-display devices 102 can be updatedquickly and almost simultaneously even if the number of theimage-display devices 102 increases.

A method to reduce the quantity of screen data expressed by using onlythe raster-data format (raster data) by compressing the raster databefore transmitting the screen data is effective for shortening thetransmission time in addition to the above-described method. However,the size of the screen data expressed by using only the raster-dataformat is hardly compressed to the size of the same screen dataexpressed by using both the raster-data format and the solid-dataformat. In such a case, each image-display device 102 needs to include amethod to expand compressed screen data so that a structure of eachimage-display device 102 becomes complicated. In addition, theprocessing time required to compress and to expand the screen datacauses a delay in updating the screen data displayed on a monitor of animage-display device 102.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a structure of the image-displaydevice 102 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Theimage-display device 102 is a projector-type image display deviceincluding a USB interface unit 601, a display-control unit 602, aframe-buffer memory 603, an LCD (Liquid-Crystal Display) panel 604 and aprojection optical system 605. The image-display device 102 may beanother projector-type image display device or one of various types ofimage-display devices that are not a projector-type image displaydevice. Area-updating data that is screen data expressed by using boththe raster-data format and the solid-data format is transmitted from thecontrol device 100 to the USB interface 601 of the image-display device102. The display-control unit 602 interprets the area-updating datareceived at the USB interface 601 and rewrites data stored in theframe-buffer memory 603. If the area-updating data is solid data,specified color data is copied to a specified area of the frame-buffermemory 603. If the area-updating data is raster data, the raster data iscopied to a specified area of the frame-buffer memory 603. Since theimage-display device 102 uses the area-updating data that takes theabove-described formats, processes performed by the display-control unit602 become simple. The data rewritten and stored in the frame-buffermemory 603 is then displayed on the LCD panel 604. Subsequently, thedata displayed on the LCD panel 604 is then projected on a screen 606 bythe projection optical system 605.

A description will now be given of an image-display system according toa fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a block diagramshowing a hardware environment of an image-display system 700 accordingto a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The image-displaysystem 700 shown in FIG. 13 includes a computer 701 and image-displaydevices 702-1 through 702-6. The computer 701 and the image-displaydevices 702-1 through 702-6 are connected to each other by a bus cable,for instance. The computer 701 additionally includes software operatedtherein. The software is included in the computer 701, for example, bycopying a program read from a record medium that is readable by thecomputer 701 and storing the program according to an embodiment of thepresent invention in the computer 701. The image-display system 700 caninclude a user interface as a hardware module instead of a softwaremodule. The computer 701 includes a primary image-display device such asa CRT display and an LCD panel. It should be noted that the primaryimage-display device is referred to as a console 703 hereinafter. CRTdisplays, LCD panels and projectors that can display image data given bythe computer 701 may be used as the image-display devices 702-1 through702-6. Additionally, each of the image-display devices 702-1 through702-6 is identified automatically by the computer 701, and receives anidentification number (ID) when it is connected to the computer 701. Forexample, each of the image-display devices 702-1 through 702-6 isassigned with numbers 1 through 6 respectively.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a user interface according to a sixthembodiment of the present invention. The user interface includes a GUI(Graphical User Interface), for example. The user interface shown inFIG. 14 is an operation screen 801 displayed on the console 703 whensetting relations between the image-display devices 702-1 through 702-6.The operation screen 801 includes an upper area 802 and a lower area803. The lower area 803 includes icons 807, 808 and 809 indicating theimage-display devices 1, 2 and 3 that are currently connected to thecomputer 701. The embodiment of the icons displayed in the lower area803 is not limited to that described above. Identification numbers 1, 2and 3 are displayed respectively on the image-display devices 702-1,702-2 and 702-3 so that a user can recognize correspondence of anidentification number displayed on each of the image-display devices702-1, 702-2 and 702-3 to an identification number displayed on each ofthe icons 807, 808 and 809.

The upper area 802 includes a frame 804 indicating “previous screen”, aframe 805 indicating “next screen” and a frame 806 indicating “currentscreen”. Image-display devices displaying the next screen and theprevious screen are determined by dragging the icons 807, 808 and 809 tothe frames 804, 805 and 806. For instance, the image-display devices 1and 2 are set for displaying respectively the next screen and theprevious screen by dropping the icon 807 to the frame 805 “next screen”and the icon 808 to the frame 804 “previous screen”. An image-displaydevice set for displaying the previous screen displays a page displayedwhen a “back” button of a web browser is pressed down. Similarly, a pagenext to a current page is displayed on an image-display device set fordisplaying the next screen. Both the present invention and the inventiondisclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 9-81475 include atechnology to set the relation between the image-display devices inadvance. Additionally, the invention disclosed in Japanese Laid-OpenPatent Application No. 9-81475 discloses a technology to transmit a fileincluding a sequence of pages to the image-display devices. However, inthe present invention, the previous screen and the next screen can beset to the image-display devices dynamically by a user's control.

A description will now be given of an operation of an image-displaydevice with reference to FIG. 15. FIG. 15 shows a console screenprovided in the user interface of the image-display system 700 accordingto a seventh embodiment of the present invention. A console screen 811provided in the console 703 includes a main area 812 and an icon area813. The main area 812 has a function similar to a regular web browser.For instance, the main area 812 obtains specified hypertext data,analyzes the data, and displays the data as an image. The icon area 813includes icons 814, 815 and 816 indicating image-display devicesconnected to the computer 701. In this embodiment, the icons 814, 815and 816 indicate that the image-display devices 702-4, 702-5, and 702-6are connected to the computer 701. However, the present invention is notlimited to the above-described case. Icons corresponding to theimage-display devices 702-1, 702-2, and 702-3 that are set fordisplaying the previous, current and next screens in the sixthembodiment are not shown in the console screen 811. By dragging a linkdisplayed in the main area 812 and dropping the link to one of the icons814, 815 and 816, data linked from a current page is displayed on animage-display device corresponding to the icon to which the link isdropped. Additionally, the current page is displayed on a specifiedimage-display device by dragging an area excluding links on the currentpage and dropping the area to an icon corresponding to the specifiedimage-display device.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a dialog asking a user to select one of acontinuation and a cancellation of the relations among a plurality ofthe image-display devices in a user interface of the image-displaysystem 700 according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention.Icons corresponding to the image-display devices 702-1, 702-2 and 702-3that are set for displaying the previous, current and next screens maybe displayed in the icon area 813 shown in FIG. 15 in addition to theicons 814, 815 and 816. In such case, a user is asked to select one of acontinuation and a cancellation of the relation between a specifiedimage-display device and its corresponding screen by displaying a dialogshown in FIG. 16 when each of the image-display devices 702-1, 702-2 and702-3 are specified. Data included in the screen corresponding to thespecified image-display device is displayed on the specifiedimage-display device whether the user has selected the continuation orthe cancellation of the relation between the specified image-displaydevice and its corresponding screen. However, in a case that thecontinuation has been selected, each screen is rewritten with new dataaccording to the relation that has been set when the current screen ischanged to another screen following a link provided on the currentscreen. In a case that the cancellation has been selected, data on ascreen dropped to one of the icons 814, 815 and 816 provided in the iconarea 813 is kept on the screen when the current screen is to be changedfollowing a link provided on the current screen.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a pop-up menu used for specifying a desiredimage-display device to display a page linked to the current pagethereon in a user interface of the image-display system 700 according toa ninth embodiment of the present invention. The seventh embodimentshown in FIG. 15 displays the icon area 813, whereas the ninthembodiment uses a pop-up menu for selecting an image-display device. Inthis embodiment, the pop-up menu shown in FIG. 17 is displayed near amouse cursor by pressing the second button of a mouse. The number ofitems-provided in the pop-up menu is equal to the number of theimage-display devices connected to the computer 701. For instance, if auser clicks an item “display on image-display device 3” by use of themouse, image data included in the current page or in a page linked tothe current page is read therefrom, and then is displayed on theimage-display device 702-3.

In the image-display system 700 according to the present invention, notonly the current page but also the previous and next pages linked to thecurrent page in a link series are displayed by use of the image-displaydevices. If the current page is at an end of the link series so that theprevious or next page does not exist, an image-display devicecorresponding to the previous or next page displays no image data. Apage containing HTML data may not fit on a monitor of an image-displaydevice. Therefore, when displaying image data by use of an image-displaydevice such as the LCD panel that is a hand-held device and otherimage-display devices that cannot display one page of the HTML data onits monitor, the entire page of HTML data can be displayed on themonitor by providing a scroll button, and then by scrolling the page inthe image-display device.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a scroll button provided on a consolescreen displayed on the console 703 of the image-display system 700according to a tenth embodiment of the present invention. A consolescreen 821 includes a main area 822 and an icon area 823. The icon area823 includes scroll buttons 824 and 825 for each image-display device.The scroll buttons 824 and 825 are operated by a mouse so that imagedata displayed on an image-display device can be scrolled even in animage-display device such as a projector that a user can hardly touchdirectly while the projector is being operated. FIG. 18 shows the scrollbuttons 824 and 825 that respectively correspond to the image-displaydevices with their identification numbers set to 1 and 2. However, anembodiment of the present invention is not limited to theabove-described case.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing identification information of animage-display device on a console screen displayed on the console 703 ofthe image-display system 700 according to an eleventh embodiment of thepresent invention. It is possible to display identification informationon each image-display device such as the LCD panel that can easily becarried in order to identify each image-display device easily. In theeleventh embodiment, a console screen 831 shown in FIG. 19 includes animage-displaying area 832 and an identification-information displayingarea 833. The image-displaying area 832 displays hypertext data receivedfrom the computer 701. The identification-information area 833 displaysidentification information 834 about an image-display device andcorrespondence of the image-display device to a page if theidentification information and the correspondence have been set. FIG. 19shows a case in which the identification information of theimage-display device is “1”, and the image-display device corresponds tothe previous page.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing an application using theimage-display system according to a twelfth embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 20 shows an embodiment to display data used for apresentation using a projector. Two projectors are connected to thecomputer 700, the two projectors being set respectively to the currentpage and the previous page. A link “next” is provided to each page sothat each page is connected by the link “next” to the following page inone dimension. In addition, each page is provided with a link to all thepages. A button indicating a link to a page currently displayed by animage-display device is preferably deactivated for a user not to clickthe button. During a regular presentation, a displayed image is switchedto the next image by following the link “next”. Consequently, thecurrent page and the previous page are constantly displayed on the twoprojectors so that the context of the presentation becomes moreunderstandable. Additionally, any two pages can be displayed on theprojectors simultaneously by dragging and dropping a link to a specificpage to the projectors. The link can be dropped to a projector that hasbeen set for displaying the previous page in addition to a projectorthat has been set for displaying the current page.

A description will now be given of a method to display desired pagessimultaneously according to a thirteenth embodiment of the presentinvention. A method of collecting desired pages among a plurality ofpages that are connected to each other complicatedly and reading thedesired pages simultaneously by use of LCD panels takes the followingsteps. The first page A is initially located by following hyperlinks,and is displayed on a console screen provided on the console 703 of thecomputer 701. Subsequently, the first page A is displayed on theimage-display device 1. The second page B is located by following thehyperlinks again, and is displayed on the console screen. When thesecond page B is displayed on the console screen, the first page A isstill being displayed on the image-display device 1. Thus, a user canread both the first page A and the second page B simultaneously.Similarly, the user can read as many pages as the number of theimage-display devices by taking the above-described steps.

As described above, the present invention provides an image-displaysystem that can collectively control each of a plurality ofimage-display devices to display images following predeterminedsettings. Furthermore, the cost of producing the image-display system islow, since a general personal computer including a bus interface such asa USB interface can be used as a control device provided in theimage-display system without adding any special hardware. Additionally,a user can set correspondence of screen data to an image-display deviceand a displaying order of the screen data on the image-display device atany time. Even if the predetermined settings are stored in the controldevice, the image-display system can display any screen data selected bya user on any image-display whenever the user inputs an instruction todo so. An operation by the user to select desired screen data to bedisplayed on a desired image-display device can be executed easily andfirmly by use of a GUI. Even if a data-transmitting speed of aninterface connecting the control device and image-display devices isslow, the image-display system can update the screen data displayed onthe image-display devices quickly since the control device transmits thescreen data as area-updating data to the image-display devices forupdating the screen data displayed on the image-display devices.Additionally, each of the control device and the image-display devicesdoes not need to include a function to compress and expand the screendata, and thus structures of the control device and the image-displaydevices can be simplified. Moreover, the image-display system can avoiddelay in update of the screen data displayed on the image-displaydevices according to time taken to compress and expand the screen data.Additionally, the image-display system can collectively control each ofthe image-display devices to display the screen data in a predetermineddisplaying order.

By use of the user interface according to the present invention, a usercan relate a specific page or link in a document written in a hypertexthaving complicated relations of connecting to other hypertexts to aspecific image-display device so that the specific page or link can bedisplayed on the specific image-display device. Additionally, the userinterface can easily direct the image-display devices to display screendata desired by the user. Additionally, in a case that the presentinvention is adapted to a presentation and the like, the current pageand the previous page can be always displayed on screens, and thusrelation between parts in a presentation becomes clear.

The above description is provided in order to enable any person skilledin the art to make and use the invention and sets forth the best modecontemplated by the inventors of carrying out the invention.

The present invention is not limited to the specially disclosedembodiments and variations, and modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the invention.

The present application is based on Japanese Priority Application No.11-330522, filed on Nov. 19, 1999, and Japanese Priority Application No.2000-237462, filed on Aug. 4, 2000, the entire contents of which arehereby incorporated by reference.

1. An image-transmitting device connected to a plurality of imagedisplay devices through a bus cable, said image-transmitting devicecomprising: a memory unit storing a set of screen data, each individualof said set of screen data corresponding to one of said plurality ofimage-display devices, said memory unit further storing a displayingorder of said individual of said set of screen data to be displayed onsaid corresponding image-display devices; a transmission-data-generatingunit selecting specific screen data from among the set of the screendata by following the correspondence between each individual of said setof screen data and respective of said image display devices and thedisplaying order, and generating transmission data that each of saidimage-display devices is to display based on the selected specificscreen data; a bus interface connected to said image-display devicesthrough the bus cable; a transmission unit transmitting the transmissiondata from said bus interface through the bus cable to each of saidimage-display devices; and an instruction-input unit that is used by auser to select one of the screen data and one of said image-displaydevices through a graphical user interface (GUI), and to direct theselected image-display device to display the selected screen data,wherein the transmission data is generated based on the selected screendata by said transmission-data-generating unit, and then is transmittedto the selected image-display device by said transmission unit, whereinsaid transmission data includes data of a first data type for an entirescreen and area updating data of a second data type different from thefirst data type for updating part of the entire screen, the areaupdating data including data specifying an updating area of the screendata displayed on an image-display device and data used for updatingpart of the screen data displayed in the updating area.
 2. Theimage-transmitting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said memoryunit further includes a two-dimensional arrangement in which file namesof the screen data are placed in a position corresponding to animage-display device that is to display said screen data and thedisplaying order of said screen data.
 3. The image-transmitting deviceas claimed in claim 1 further comprising a setting unit by which a usersets the correspondence of the screen data to each of said image-displaydevices and the displaying order of the screen data in advance.
 4. Theimage-display system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising: a settingunit setting the correspondence of the screen data to each of saidimage-display devices and the displaying order of the screen data inadvance by following the instruction inputted by the user through saidinstruction-input unit.
 5. The image-transmitting device as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said image-transmitting device is a computer includinga USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface as said bus interface, and saidbus cable is a USB cable.
 6. An image-display system including a controldevice and a plurality of image-display devices connected through a businterface to said control device, said control device comprising: amemory unit storing a set of screen data, each individual of said set ofscreen data corresponding to one of said plurality of image-displaydevices, said memory unit further storing a displaying order of saidindividual of said set of screen data to be displayed on saidcorresponding image-display devices; a transmission-data-generating unitselecting specific screen data from among the set of the screen data byfollowing the correspondence between each individual of said set ofscreen data and respective of said image display devices and thedisplaying order, and generating transmission data that each of saidimage-display devices is to display based on the selected specificscreen data; a transmission unit transmitting the transmission datathrough said bus interface to each of said image-display devices; and aninstruction-input unit that is used by a user to select one of thescreen data and one of said image-display devices through a graphicaluser interface (GUI), and to direct the selected image-display device todisplay the selected screen data, wherein the transmission data isgenerated based on the selected screen data by saidtransmission-data-generating unit, and then is transmitted to theselected image-display device by said transmission unit, wherein saidtransmission data includes data of a first data type for an entirescreen and area updating data of a second data type different from thefirst data type for updating part of the entire screen, the areaupdating data including data specifying an updating area of the screendata displayed on an image-display device and data used for updatingpart of the screen data displayed in the updating area.
 7. Animage-display system comprising: a computer including a primaryimage-display device that displays a document including a plurality ofpages; a plurality of image-display devices that are connected to saidcomputer, and that are configured to display the document; and a userinterface configured to allow a user to relate a specific page in thedocument to a specific image-display device among said plurality ofimage-display devices in a one-to-one correspondence between saidspecific page and a respective specific of the plurality ofimage-display devices, said user interface including: aninstruction-input unit that is used by a user to select one of thescreen data and one of said image-display devices through a graphicaluser interface (GUI), and to direct the selected image-display device todisplay the selected screen data, wherein the transmission data isgenerated based on the selected screen data by saidtransmission-data-generating unit, and then is transmitted to theselected image-display device by said transmission unit, wherein saiduser interface displays icons indicating said image-display devices onsaid primary image-display device, and allocates the specific page to anicon to display the specific page on an image-display devicecorresponding to the icon.
 8. The image-display system as claimed inclaim 7, wherein said image-display system displays identificationinformation of said image-display device and information aboutcorrespondence of said image display device to the specific page whendisplaying the specific page on said image-display device.
 9. Theimage-display system as claimed in claim 7, wherein said user interfaceallocates the specific page to the icon by dragging and dropping saidspecific page to said icon.
 10. The image-display system as claimed inclaim 7, wherein said user interface displays a pop-up menu on one ofthe specific page and an area indicating the specific page on theprimary image-display device, said pop-up menu being used for selectingthe image display device to display the specific page thereon.
 11. Theimage-display system as claimed in claim 7, wherein said image-displaysystem allocates each of previously displayed screen data and screendata to be displayed next to currently displayed screen data on saidprimary image-display device to any of said image-display devices. 12.The image-display system as claimed in claim 7, wherein saidimage-display system displays a scroll button on a screen of saidprimary image-display device, said scroll button being used forscrolling the screen of the image-display device displaying saidspecific page.
 13. The image-display system as claimed in claim 7,wherein said document is a hypertext document, and each page of saiddocument includes links to other pages.
 14. A method of controllingscreen data displayed on a plurality of image-display devices connectedto a control device through a bus interface, said method comprising thesteps of: storing a set of the screen data, each individual of said setof screen data corresponding to one of said plurality of image-displaydevices, and further storing a displaying order of said individual ofsaid set of screen data to be displayed on said correspondingimage-display devices, in said control device; selecting the screen datacorresponding to each of said image-display devices from among the setof the screen data by following the correspondence between eachindividual of said set of screen data and respective of said imagedisplay devices and the displaying order; updating the screen datadisplayed on each of said image-display devices simultaneously based onthe selected screen data through the bus interface; and selecting, by auser, one of the screen data and one of said image-display devicesthrough a graphical user interface (GUI), and directing the selectedimage-display device to display the selected screen data, wherein thetransmission data is generated based on the selected screen data by saidselecting step, and then is transmitted to the selected image-displaydevice, wherein the step of updating the screen data displayed on eachof said image-display devices simultaneously comprises a step oftransmitting data including data of a first data type for an entirescreen and area updating data of a second data type different from thefirst data type for updating part of the entire screen, thearea-updating data including data specifying an updating area of thescreen data displayed on an image-display device and data used forupdating part of the screen data displayed in the updating area.
 15. Amethod of controlling screen data displayed on a plurality ofimage-display devices connected to a control device through a businterface, said method comprising the steps of: storing a set of thescreen data, each individual of said set of screen data corresponding toone of said plurality of image-display devices, and further storing adisplaying order of said individual of said set of screen data to bedisplayed on said corresponding image-display devices, in said controldevice; selecting the screen data corresponding to each of saidimage-display devices from among the set of the screen data by followingthe correspondence between each individual of said set of screen dataand respective of said plurality of image display devices and thedisplaying order; generating transmission data that each of saidimage-display devices is to display based on the selected screen data;transmitting the transmission data to each of said image-display devicesthrough said bus interface; and selecting, by a user, one of the screendata and one of said image-display devices through a graphical userinterface (GUI), and directing the selected image-display device todisplay the selected screen data, wherein the transmission data isgenerated based on the selected screen data by said selecting step, andthen is transmitted to the selected image-display device; and updatingthe screen data displayed on each of said image-display devicessimultaneously by transmitting data including data of a first data typefor an entire screen and area updating data of a second data typedifferent from the first data type for updating part of the entirescreen, the area-updating data including data specifying an updatingarea of the screen data displayed on an image-display device and dataused for updating part of the screen data displayed in the updatingarea.
 16. The method as claimed in claim 15, further comprising the stepof: setting the correspondence of the screen data to each of saidimage-display devices and the displaying order of the screen data byfollowing the instruction inputted.
 17. A record medium readable by amachine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by themachine to perform method steps for controlling images displayed on aplurality of image-display devices connected to an image-transmittingdevice through a bus interface, said method steps comprising: storing aset of screen data, each individual of said set of screen datacorresponding to one of said plurality of image-display devices, andfurther storing a displaying order of said individual of said set ofscreen data to be displayed on said corresponding image-display devices,in said control device; selecting the screen data corresponding to eachof said image-display devices from among the set of the screen data byfollowing the correspondence between each individual of said set ofscreen data and respective of said plurality of image display devicesand the displaying order; generating transmission data that each of saidimage-display devices is to display based on the selected screen data;transmitting the transmission data to each of said image-display devicesthrough said bus interface; selecting, by a user, one of the screen dataand one of said image-display devices through a graphical user interface(GUI), and directing the selected image-display device to display theselected screen data, wherein the transmission data is generated basedon the selected screen data by said selecting step, and then istransmitted to the selected image-display device; and updating thescreen data displayed on each of said image-display devicessimultaneously by transmitting data including data of a first data typefor an entire screen and area updating data of a second data typedifferent from the first data type for updating part of the entirescreen, the area-updating data including data specifying an updatingarea of the screen data displayed on an image-display device and dataused for updating part of the screen data displayed in the updatingarea.
 18. The record medium as claimed in claim 17, wherein said methodsteps further comprises the step of: setting the correspondence of thescreen data to each of said image-display devices and the displayingorder of the screen data by following the instruction inputted.